1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an acoustical optical light deflector having a high resolution.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Light deflectors, which can resolve several hundred through a few thousand points, are required for many uses for example for laser printers. Such high resolution is presently achieved only with mechanical deflectors, for example, deflectors utilizing rotating polygonal mirrors or oscillating mirrors. While mechanical deflectors have a very high deflection efficiency, they are relatively slow. Fast deflectors with up to a thousand resolved points but with only a low deflection efficiency can be realized with ultrasonic deflectors in a so-called "bulk" version. However, these fast deflectors and the mechanical deflectors are both relatively expensive to manufacture. Fast deflectors in waveguide version would have an advantage because they can be more easily manufactured with the broad band transducers being photolithographically manufactured in a standard planar technology. In addition, fast deflectors in a waveguide version can be made to do with significantly less high frequency drive power than the bulk deflectors. At present, at most a few hundred points can be resolved with the planar acousto-optical light deflectors.